The mainstreaming of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) lies at the heart of ameliorating the plight of tribesmen living in tribal region. Without bringing FATA under the Constitution and recognising the tribesmen as equal citizens of Pakistan, there can be no hope of improving the situation in the tribal regions. In this regard, the FATA reform committee has presented four options; one, maintaining the status quo by introducing minor changes, two, granting special status to FATA on the pattern of Gilgit-Baltistan; three, making it a separate province; and four, integrating FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Among these four options, the most suitable was of FATA’s integrating FATA into KP. This would merely require the extension of different provincial departments to the tribal agencies, which lie next to the KP districts. Besides, there is cultural and social consanguinity between the people of both regions, as Pashtunwali glue them together. While it is true that there could be some complications in the integration process, but this merger is certainly doable.
Going deep into the matter, the reform committee suggested a periodic merger which will culminate in a period of five years. Besides, for ten years the developmental budget would be invested in the region. This also included the abolition of draconian law of Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR). Besides, the package embodied enhancement of quotas in medical and engineering colleges, and competitive exams for tribal students for period of ten years. These reforms were recommended to bring FATA on par with the rest of KP, within a period of ten years.
A majority of the tribesmen back the idea of this merger, but there are some who are averse to it. They argue that FATA has its own history and identity, thus, it ought to be kept intact. By saying so, they allude to the time when the area was free of extremism and militancy. There was peace and serenity before 9/11, and the crime rate was the lowest in the country. Moreover, there was no class difference as tribal society is adverse to class system. Everyone was equal under the local code of ethics. However, in mainland KP, the social milieu has changed somewhat.
A majority of the tribesmen back the idea of a KP-FATA merger, but there are some who are averse to it. They argue that FATA has its own history and identity, thus, it ought to be kept intact
Politically, two mainstream parties, the Jamat-e-Ulema Islam-F (JUI-F) and the Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (PkMAP), have opposed the merger. The former is in favour of a separate province for FATA and want to have a plebiscite prior to deciding its future status. According to them, the people should decide their fate through a referendum. While PkMAP is of the view that FATA is a buffer zone between Pakistan and Afghanistan. So Afghanistan’s consent is mandatory to ensure a peaceful transformation of the tribal region. In other words, they desire that FATA’s fate be decided by its people in a democratic manner. According to these parties, a direct merger would amount to coercing tribesmen into accepting a decision not made by them.
Conversely, the proponents of the merger remonstrate that their opposition to the merger is criminal. They argue that the merger could bring relief to the tribal people after decades of suffering, and that it could enable Pakistan to end the deployment of troops in the region. They also warn those opposing the merger that the tribal people will never forget their ‘dirty tricks’.
There are other, more neutral perspectives regarding the FATA mainstreaming which are normally ignored. Hence, the people in mainland Pakistan consider a merger to be the only option — which is not the case. We have seen in the past some significant amendments by successive governments. For instance, allowing mainstream political parties to function in FATA and extension of judicial courts to the premises of the tribal region. These amendments have made achievements in neutralising the severe effects the draconian Frontier Crime Regulations (FCR) were having on the region. So the prospects of the other three options should also be debated. However, this would require political will and unanimity.
Lastly, the FATA-KP merger is significant for the development and progress of the tribal areas, as it guarantees improvement in the region — specifically in terms of law and order. Besides, in case of a merger, our military can take a sigh of relief and focus on other fronts.
The writer can be contacted at [email protected]
Published in Daily Times, April 27th 2018.